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Cheese from Italy, all of Friuli-Venezia Giulia, the provinces of Belluno and Treviso, and parts of Padua and Venice

Montasio PDOMontasio

Raw or thermised cow milk, never pasteurised, is warmed to 32–36 °C, seeded with a natural or selected thermophilic starter and set with calf rennet. The curd is broken to rice-grain size, cooked at 42–48 °C, pressed in marked bands and salted dry or in light brine. It ripens at least 60 days, and wheels aged a year or more are used for grating.

Fully documentedCheese2 monthsPDO (EU, 1996), registered by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996Family: Cooked hard alpine cheese family (Comté, Gruyère and Emmentaler as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification fixes the steps and temperatures, not amounts.
Cow milkFrom consecutive milkings collected within 48 h of the first; processed within 30 h of collection; heat treatment must leave the phosphatase test clearly positive, so the milk is raw or thermised[montasio-dis-2012][innocente2013]
Natural or selected starter (lattoinnesto)A milk starter rich in cocci, made from milk of the area[montasio-dis-2012]
Calf rennet, liquid or powder[montasio-dis-2012]
Salt[montasio-dis-2012]
LysozymeThe specification allows lysozyme; a 2024 trial found it prevented the late-blowing defect[montasio-dis-2012][trevisiol2024]
Starternatural or selected thermophilic starter (lattoinnesto)

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months

Start
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32–36 °C

What changes: Raw or lightly heated cow milk is warmed to 32–36 °C in the vat

Step 1 of 7
Warm the raw or thermised milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
32–36 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
S. thermophilus

Milk may not be pasteurised; on the farm it may only be chilled, to no lower than 4 °C. Output: warm milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Raw or thermised cow milk, never pasteurised, is warmed to 32–36 °C, seeded with a natural or selected thermophilic starter and set with calf rennet. The curd is broken to rice-grain size, cooked at 42–48 °C, pressed in marked bands and salted dry or in light brine. It ripens at least 60 days, and wheels aged a year or more are used for grating. Made in 7 steps over 2 months. The longest step, ripen at least 60 days, takes at least 2 months (Consorzio per la tutela del formaggio Montasi…) and runs at at least 8 °C (Consorzio per la tutela del formaggio Montasi…). Streptococcus thermophilus, the main lactic bacterium through all of ripening and the strongest acidifier does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsSet[montasio-dis-2012]Ripen at least 60 days
Temperatureat least 8 °CSet[montasio-dis-2012]Ripen at least 60 days

What makes this one different

The rules call Montasio a cooked cheese, but its curd is cooked only to 42–48 °C, and a dairy-science paper calls it semi-cooked. It is sold young, from 60 days, as a table cheese, and the same wheel aged a year becomes a grating cheese. The milk may never be pasteurised.

Milk
Cow milk from the production area only, raw or thermised, never pasteurised
Shape and size
Cylinder 30–35 cm across with a side at most 8 cm high, 6–8 kg at 60 days
Fat
At least 40 % fat in dry matter
Ripening
At least 60 days; at least 12 months for grating

Related ferments

Variants

  • Prodotto della montagna (PDM)Whole process, from milk to 60 days of ripening, in mountain areas; marked PDM on the side
  • Montasio for gratingAged at least 12 months; friable, straw-coloured, with few, very small eyes

Safety

The milk is never pasteurised, so the rules require at least 60 days of ripening. In a study of 6 batches, Enterobacteriaceae, including E. coli, were still detectable at 120 days, and some isolates could form histamine and other biogenic amines. A 60-day minimum does not guarantee safety. Studies that inoculated cheese milk, mostly for Cheddar, found E. coli O157:H7 and Listeria alive well beyond 60 days, though Listeria levels typically fell. The 2008 thesis that reviews them also notes limited evidence of illness from raw-milk hard cheese aged 60 days. ANSES, the French food-safety agency, advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheese, except cooked pressed kinds such as Gruyère. This curd is cooked only to 42–48 °C, below the 50–53 °C of Swiss cheese, so do not assume it qualifies.

Hazards the sources name: Enterobacteriaceae (Enterobacter cloacae, Escherichia coli, Hafnia alvei), detectable up to 120 days in 6 batches; Late-blowing defect, seen only in the 2024 trial batch made without lysozyme or added Lb. casei strains.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

The registration summary says the name refers to the Julian Alps, whose vast high plateau has long been known for summer mountain grazing. Montasio appears in the price lists of San Daniele and Udine in 1773–1775, priced above similar local cheeses. From about 1880 village cooperatives (latterie turnarie) spread from Cadore across Friuli and the Veneto, reaching about 350 by 1915 and over 650 dairies by the 1960s. A dairy school founded in Friuli in 1925 trained its cheesemakers.

  1. [montasio-dis-2012] Consorzio per la tutela del formaggio Montasio, Disciplinare di produzione della DOP «Montasio», amendment text of 5 Nov 2012 (later minor amendment 2017)spec
  2. [montasio-eu-1996] Ministero dell'Agricoltura, Application for registration of the PDO Montasio under Regulation (EEC) 2081/92 (registration summary, EN), eAmbrosia attachment 73527spec
  3. [reg-1107-1996] Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin under Article 17 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, Annex lists Montasio (PDO), OJ L 148, 21.6.1996spec
  4. [trevisiol2024] Trevisiol F., Renoldi N., Rossi A., Di Filippo G., Marino M., Innocente N. 2024, Lacticaseibacillus casei as anti-blowing agents, impact on the evolution of ripening and sensory profile of Montasio cheese, Food and Bioprocess Technology 18(2):1764–1776 (abstract), doi:10.1007/s11947-024-03555-1paper
  5. [marino2003] Marino M., Maifreni M., Rondinini G. 2003, Microbiological characterization of artisanal Montasio cheese, analysis of its indigenous lactic acid bacteria, FEMS Microbiology Letters 229:133–140 (abstract)paper
  6. [carraro2011] Carraro L. et al. 2011, Comparison of culture-dependent and -independent methods for bacterial community monitoring during Montasio cheese manufacturing, Research in Microbiology 162:231–239 (abstract)paper
  7. [innocente2013] Innocente N., Biasutti M. 2013, Automatic milking systems in the Protected Designation of Origin Montasio cheese production chain, effects on milk and cheese quality, Journal of Dairy Science 96:740–751 (abstract)paper
  8. [maifreni2013] Maifreni M. et al. 2013, Identification of the Enterobacteriaceae in Montasio cheese and assessment of their amino acid decarboxylase activity, Journal of Dairy Research 80:122–127 (abstract)paper
  9. [damico2008] D'Amico D.J. 2008, Incidence, ecology, and fate of target foodborne pathogens in the cheesemaking continuum, PhD dissertation, University of Vermontpaper
  10. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov